When I first saw an Indian Four Cylinder in my younger
days I though it to be one of the most stunning bikes I had ever seen. The
flowing lines and skirted fenders reminded me of the cars of the thirties.
I figured that one of these was on my "bucket list".
Fast forward to 2004. I had seen several Fours for sale and was in a
position to buy. I was surfing one evening on E-bay and low and behold was
a ratty old 1941 Indian. It was poorly described and had poor pictures. I
contacted the seller by e-mail and he was able to tell me little. I
figured "what the heck" and bid like I wanted it.
When I won the bid, the
seller did a disappearing act and I was shortly contacted by several
people who had transactions with the seller who said they thought he was
selling stolen bikes and that the sheriff's department in Centralia
Washington had become involved. I contacted said sheriff's department and
found that the seller had been contracted by the husband of a couple
involved in a divorce to sell a complete old bike collection and in order
to stop the sale, the wife had reported all of her husbands bikes stolen.
This particular bike ended up at an attorney’s office that acted as an
escrow agent for the sale.
The seller agreed to deliver the motorcycle to
fellow club member Bart Iden's son in Seattle prior to payment. When it
turned out to be the "real deal" the transaction was completed and the
bike shipped to Phoenix.
When the bike arrived it was quite clear that it had not been operated for
many, many years and had shabby paint, peeling chrome, lots of dirt. I
changed the oil, installed a battery, flushed the fuel system and the
silly thing started and ran. WOW! It made its maiden voyage to a BMMC club
meeting in 2004, smoking and puking oil everywhere. I didn't dare park on
the concrete. Within a month I tore it apart and was looking at a bare
frame and disassembled engine. I found out in short order parts for these
engines are in short supply and quite dear. Two years of hunting parts,
plating, polishing, powder coating and painting and on Jan 1st 2006 it was
running and supposedly ready for it's maiden voyage on our annual "ride
your old stuff to Tortilla Flat" ride. Well... it didn't quite make it.
The engine quit 15 miles into the ride and I sheepishly had to tow it
home. The problem turned out to be minor and in a few days I was proudly
riding my fully restored 1941 Indian Four.
These bikes are quite rare and when done right can be a pleasant ride.
They shift with a lever by hand and the clutch is foot operated "suicide
clutch". The oddest feature of the bike is that originally the throttle
was on the left with the manual spark advancer on the right. The supposed
reason for this was that so a law enforcement person could fire a gun
right handed while using the throttle with his left hand. Needless to say
the rider of one of these machines stays rather busy. The throttle part
turned out to be too much to try to learn and I eventually converted it to
a right side throttle, which is why I haven't killed myself riding it. The
bike now has over 1,000 miles on it, get ridden anywhere I want to ride
and has been the recipient of many trophies including "best pre-war
vintage" and best Indian at the AAMCE motorcycle show. It resides in the
showroom of my shop, EastSide Performance Motorcycles, along with many
other vintage bikes. Please drop by and see them.
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